craned neck during sleep

Hello all-

Back to my (non-PAP related) sleep troubles once again! I sleep on my side and am having a heck of a time adjusting my pillow so it's not too high and not too low for my neck (this is a recent development). If my pillows are too high, my neck hurts, and I can't sleep (like last night, for example). If my pillows are too low, I crush various body parts and lose feeling, and I can't sleep. Every time I have found the PERFECT pillow combination, it just doesn't work after a few weeks. It is very frustrating, and again, is a rather recent problem.

However, could my mattress be to blame and not my pillows? I do not have a baseboard, just plywood (!), and my mattress sags in the middle. I am very petite and have a shorter neck and chest area than most people. It hit me that this might be the problem. Around 630 I got the idea to stick a pillow underneath my back (where the saggy area is), and fell right asleep. I was much more comfortable this way.

Anybody have any ideas about what's to blame for my neck issues? My BF tells me I need a new bed (I currently sleep on a child-sized bed that we got at the thrift shop for 20 bucks ). I am not so sure, however, because these issues only came up recently, while I have been using the bipap with this bed successfully for over a year. Thoughts?

Here is a link to side-sleeping:

viewtopic/t48027/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47 ... er#p433694

It sounds like you are not getting sufficient support for your neck, try modifying your pillows. And if that doesn't help, maybe it is your mattress.

Or, could be related to day-time activities..like looking down at the computer screen? Become aware of your posture during the day, to see if it might be something like that.

Certainly your bed can't be helping, and most mattresses devolve over time, sneakily reaching the point where they produce serious discomfort. A sagging mattress prevents full relaxation because it makes your postural muscles work all night to keep your spinal cord safe. As xpap users, we don't need extra discomforts affecting our sleep.

Aside from that, it sounds to me that you're so sensitive to neck position that tiny changes in pillow height make a big difference. This suggests that neck-strengthening exercises may help. You can find plenty of these online, but be very gentle with them at first and build up slowly. If your neck muscles are weak, they are very easily strained. I hope this helps.

~R~

I found that the Regenesis pillow helped solve alot of my neck and upper back issues. Like you I find a too soft pillow allows me neck to become out of whack and a too high pillow forces my head forward making it uncomfortable.

I have heard that pillows stuffed with wool are great as well, but wool can be expensive and so never tried it.

Both your pillow and your mattress may need changed. If you are unable to get one of the specialized pillows, try a new pillow from one of the retail stores. Back in the day when I used pillows from WalMart I typically changed them around 6 months since they tend to flatten out and become uncomfortable. I did use a good tempurpedic pillow for a few years before switching to Bret's pillow.

We use a latex foam mattress that I was able to pick up at a very reasonable price. I admit we picked it up used, but the paper care tags were still attached to it and it looks brand new with not one stain or dirty area on the entire mattress. I slept on it for a couple of nights and found it firmer than what I like so I added a Cool-Max tempurpedic 4 inch topper to it and absolutely love it. I am now getting the best sleep ever with far fewer aches and pains.